I know that there is a level of expected service but I seriously can't remember the last time I cared whether a piece of regular mail came on any given day. Got something important? Email, fax, Fedex. Otherwise? I'd be the last one to notice this problem.

There are a number of places in Chicago that don't get mail service at all, or they don't get packages, or if they do get mail service it's not until 10pm because the carrier had to do another route first. The TV news does stories about it every now and again.

The official reason from the Postal Service is that it can't find anyone to do those routes. (I've never understood why the carriers get to choose their routes; I guess it's a union thing.)

Yesterday, this article published that problems with the mail deliveries in our area had been reported to the Jersey Tomato Press reached Washington D.C. Now, in order to see what can be done or to clarify the issues at hand (below) Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen is going to ask questions, and forward this piece to the United States Post Office headquarters in Washington, D.C.

reaperducer:And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

I think your point is highly debatable, but I'm not motivated to get into that. What no one needs is 6 day a week mail service. The Post Office could probably turn a profit if they went to a 3 day a week schedule. The vast majority of complaints about cutting out Saturday service come from the 85 year olds in East Nutsack, North Dakota who see their Saturday trip to the PO as a social outing. Screw 'em. Tell them their government check will be deposited electronically and don't give them a choice.

reaperducer:There are a number of places in Chicago that don't get mail service at all, or they don't get packages, or if they do get mail service it's not until 10pm because the carrier had to do another route first. The TV news does stories about it every now and again.

The official reason from the Postal Service is that it can't find anyone to do those routes. (I've never understood why the carriers get to choose their routes; I guess it's a union thing.)

I have the same problem in Philly. I won't get any mail for a few days and then get a huge pile because they skip my route. I have an ongoing legal battle, and any time I get a card saying there's a registered letter for me I have to call the postal inspector to make sure I receive it.

reaperducer:There are a number of places in Chicago that don't get mail service at all, or they don't get packages, or if they do get mail service it's not until 10pm because the carrier had to do another route first. The TV news does stories about it every now and again.

The official reason from the Postal Service is that it can't find anyone to do those routes. (I've never understood why the carriers get to choose their routes; I guess it's a union thing.)

And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

Mailmen can refuse to deliver to any house or any route they deem is dangerous, it's an OSHA thing. For example about 10 or 15 years ago all of the mailmen in Chicago Heights refused to deliver mail because of some gang war going on there. The State police and the County Sheriffs ended up stepping in and providing personal escorts for each mailman while they were on their routes. Back around 2000 one of my friends as a mailman to deliver mail around the Mt Prospect area. When he showed up at the post office and they realized he was black, they said they couldn't let him deliver mail in the area because from past experiences it would be unsafe for him. So they ended up giving him a job inside that post office, paying him at the rate of a mail carrier.

Rodeodoc:reaperducer: And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

I think your point is highly debatable, but I'm not motivated to get into that. What no one needs is 6 day a week mail service. The Post Office could probably turn a profit if they went to a 3 day a week schedule. The vast majority of complaints about cutting out Saturday service come from the 85 year olds in East Nutsack, North Dakota who see their Saturday trip to the PO as a social outing. Screw 'em. Tell them their government check will be deposited electronically and don't give them a choice.

The post office could turn a profit if they weren't forced to pre-fund their pension plan.

pinchpoint:I have the same problem in Philly. I won't get any mail for a few days and then get a huge pile because they skip my route. I have an ongoing legal battle, and any time I get a card saying there's a registered letter for me I have to call the postal inspector to make sure I receive it.

There's a post office literally around the corner from me - but it's not "MY" post office. Whenever I receive a registered letter, either I ignore it or make the nearly 20-mile round trip to a post office in another town.

Rodeodoc:reaperducer: And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

I think your point is highly debatable, but I'm not motivated to get into that. What no one needs is 6 day a week mail service. The Post Office could probably turn a profit if they went to a 3 day a week schedule. The vast majority of complaints about cutting out Saturday service come from the 85 year olds in East Nutsack, North Dakota who see their Saturday trip to the PO as a social outing. Screw 'em. Tell them their government check will be deposited electronically and don't give them a choice.

See that is your problem right there. The Post Office's job isn't to turn a profit. It is to make sure that we have a reliable method of communicating across the country. The goal of government services shouldn't be to turn a profit.

You can predict your mail delivery by crime, number of unleashed dogs are in your neighborhood, and the number of old ladies in your neighborhood who never get to talk to anyone else all day and trap the mailman*. If people are choosing routes and any of these three are a factor in your neck o' the woods, y'all ain't gettin' yer mail.

ongbok:Rodeodoc: reaperducer: And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

I think your point is highly debatable, but I'm not motivated to get into that. What no one needs is 6 day a week mail service. The Post Office could probably turn a profit if they went to a 3 day a week schedule. The vast majority of complaints about cutting out Saturday service come from the 85 year olds in East Nutsack, North Dakota who see their Saturday trip to the PO as a social outing. Screw 'em. Tell them their government check will be deposited electronically and don't give them a choice.

See that is your problem right there. The Post Office's job isn't to turn a profit. It is to make sure that we have a reliable method of communicating across the country. The goal of government services shouldn't be to turn a profit.

Talk about downsizing and doing your best to break even then: Eliminate all mail advertisements. You'd downsize by about 50-75%.

Why would Obama do this? Doesn't he know he's already going to be impeached for violating the second amendment and directing the IRS to illegally shut down the Tea Party?

When he personally called these mail carriers and told them to stop delivering the mail (to try to punish Chris Christie), did he imagine a brave principled man like Issa was going to let him get away with it?

/ is this the politics tab?// I reaaallly hope this is the politics tab

When the Postal Service gets it wrong, getting things back on track is damn near impossible.

CSB:I'm the treasurer for a small non-profit. We have a PO box that serves as our only address. 90% of our funding comes to us in the form of checks mailed to the PO Box, and about half comes from a single check from a foundation each year.

A couple of years ago, we stopped receiving mail in the box. I would check every day for weeks without seeing anything. Typically, we would receive 2-3 items per week. I sent five pieces of "test" mail, to see what would happen. Three were returned, marked undeliverable. Two simply vanished.

I approached the manager of the office where the box was located. He confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the computer; and seemed puzzled, but not particularly interested in my test mailings. Still, no mail was delivered. So I called the regional office, relaying all pertinent information. They said nothing was wrong. Still, no mail.

This went on for several months. Meanwhile, several thousand dollars worth of grant and contribution checks weren't arriving. The foundation that supplied half of our budget eventually emailed us, questioning whether or not we were still in existence, since our PO Box appeared to no longer be working. We were losing money, our credibility was in question, and the post office couldn't care less. And all they had to do was put the mail in the box.

I ended up calling the postmaster general in DC, and filing a criminal complaint. A fair portion of the mail was not being returned, it was just vanishing--like somebody was stealing it or just throwing it away. Funny thing about the postal service, THEY ANSWER TO NOBODY but the President, apparently. It took six months of me calling, writing, threatening (nothing to really threaten with, of course), and begging, before somebody in DC called the local postmaster and told them to fix it.

I received a call from the regional post master one day, and they told me that the local manager of the office where our box was located had been replaced, as there were some problems. Mail started arriving again, that day. Apparently, somebody in that office was simply throwing mail in the trash versus putting it in the box five feet away.

The point of this long story is that when you have a problem with the Postal Service, just expect that not even an Act of Congress will necessarily fix it. Go straight to the Postmaster General, and call them every single day. That is apparently the only way to fix a postal service problem, based on my experience.

The mailman on a route where I lived in The OC was psychotic. And so was the neighborhood's postmaster. Back in the days when one needed a special code from their renewal notice to pay vehicle registration fees online, I noticed I hadn't received my notice. Couldn't pay online without it so I went to the DMV, waited an hour or so, and paid there after verifying that they had the right address. I happened to catch the mail carrier that Saturday and mentioned it. He said he'd look into it. I got a handwritten note (which I wish I'd kept so I could post it here) saying there was a note that I was no longer at this address and he'd removed the note from the system so I shouldn't have any more problems. A few months later, a credit card bill didn't arrive. I called the postmaster and asked what was going on. "It looks like that note is still on your address. I guess your carrier knows it's not supposed to be there so he just delivers your mail. But we had a sub last week who wouldn't have known." "Will you please fix it?" "There's nothing to fix." "What do you mean there's nothing to fix?" "You'll get your mail!" [click]

I showed those farkers. I moved. Well, I moved because changes in traffic patterns changed my 15-20 minute commute into 45-60 minutes. Stupid economic disaster forced all the south county manager types to fire their assistants and start showing up to work on time but those people were still clown shoes.

Government nurses and doctors forced to work til nightime so NJ hospital neglects patients, wards, refuses to provide emergency care in a timely manner - and punishes local reporter for publishing article - by not providing health care to her.

Things like this is why we need to replace clerks and carriers with drones and robots. Hell if we ever get self driving cars and trucks there will never be a need for a human in the postal service again.

ongbok:Rodeodoc: reaperducer: And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

<snip>

See that is your problem right there. The Post Office's job isn't to turn a profit. It is to make sure that we have a reliable method of communicating across the country. The goal of government services shouldn't be to turn a profit.

Actually, they were turning a profit prior to Congress legislating that they must pay the healthcare costs of their future employees up front for 75 years in the future. No other organization, private or government, on the planet is saddled with this. And even if they do turn a profit, it is given back to Congress so they don't get to keep the money to invest in infrastructure like a regular business would.

Oh. And it has not been taxpayer funded since 1982.

See how that works? Any evidence refuting the idea that private enterprise always provides better service at less cost than a government agency must be strangled in the crib.

ongbok:UNAUTHORIZED FINGER: Tyrone Slothrop: The post office could turn a profit if they weren't forced to pre-fund their pension plan.

Everyone who offers a pension plan should be required to pre-fund their pension plan. That's just common sense.

75 years into the future? Nobody does that.

If you have employees that you've agreed to recompense for labor received, you'd better be able to pay the money you have contracted to pay. Otherwise, pensions are just a scam perpetrated upon the worker. Don't lead me around with a carrot on a stick, and then when I'm too old to pull your cart, put that goddamned carrot back in your pocket. And they wonder why postal workers go postal.

UNAUTHORIZED FINGER:ongbok: UNAUTHORIZED FINGER: Tyrone Slothrop: The post office could turn a profit if they weren't forced to pre-fund their pension plan.

Everyone who offers a pension plan should be required to pre-fund their pension plan. That's just common sense.

75 years into the future? Nobody does that.

If you have employees that you've agreed to recompense for labor received, you'd better be able to pay the money you have contracted to pay. Otherwise, pensions are just a scam perpetrated upon the worker. Don't lead me around with a carrot on a stick, and then when I'm too old to pull your cart, put that goddamned carrot back in your pocket. And they wonder why postal workers go postal.

I'm not disagreeing about funding the pension, but to fund it 75 years into the future is ridiculous. Nobody does that or would even think about doing it. The Republican congress forced that on the Post Office with one goal in mind, and that was to cause it to collapse.

Government nurses and doctors forced to work til nightime so NJ hospital neglects patients, wards, refuses to provide emergency care in a timely manner - and punishes local reporter for publishing article - by not providing health care to her.

MacDonalds gave me a burger that wasn't what I ordered. Imagine if health care was run by private enterprise.

Rodeodoc:reaperducer: And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

I think your point is highly debatable, but I'm not motivated to get into that. What no one needs is 6 day a week mail service. The Post Office could probably turn a profit if they went to a 3 day a week schedule. The vast majority of complaints about cutting out Saturday service come from the 85 year olds in East Nutsack, North Dakota who see their Saturday trip to the PO as a social outing. Screw 'em. Tell them their government check will be deposited electronically and don't give them a choice.

A lot of small businesses rely on the USPS. Shipping small boxes, maybe 4"x3"x5"? Ever try getting that through FedEx or UPS? Out of 100 samples, USPS delivered every one intact and on time. Through FedEx and UPS 21 and 23 nondeliveries or crushed boxes. Small packages get lost and crushed through the other services.

DHL was as good as USPS for handling small packages but they don't do point to point in the US anymore. And nobody but USPS will deliver anywhere. USPS has some service limitations due to ongoing losses (thefts from doorsteps or unsafe conditions) but have always left documented messages for people to get their packages at their local post office.

Plus their investigators will nail folks for mail fraud such as reporting to credit card issuers that a package was never ordered or delivered despite it being signed for in their own handwriting. You don't get that through FedEx or UPS; their internal investigations are not conducted by law enforcement and don't have the consequences for folks who abuse the system.

For small businesses that have very small very valuable items for sale online, Mon-Fri USPS mail service is often a necessity. Less frequent delivery service means enough uncertainty in delivery times to make business very uncertain.

BolloxReader:DHL was as good as USPS for handling small packages but they don't do point to point in the US anymore. And nobody but USPS will deliver anywhere. USPS has some service limitations due to ongoing losses (thefts from doorsteps or unsafe conditions) but have always left documented messages for people to get their packages at their local post office.

The founder of DHL had a little problem with taking care of small packages point to point that caused the company some bad press.

ongbok:UNAUTHORIZED FINGER: ongbok: UNAUTHORIZED FINGER: Tyrone Slothrop: The post office could turn a profit if they weren't forced to pre-fund their pension plan.

Everyone who offers a pension plan should be required to pre-fund their pension plan. That's just common sense.

75 years into the future? Nobody does that.

If you have employees that you've agreed to recompense for labor received, you'd better be able to pay the money you have contracted to pay. Otherwise, pensions are just a scam perpetrated upon the worker. Don't lead me around with a carrot on a stick, and then when I'm too old to pull your cart, put that goddamned carrot back in your pocket. And they wonder why postal workers go postal.

I'm not disagreeing about funding the pension, but to fund it 75 years into the future is ridiculous. Nobody does that or would even think about doing it. The Republican congress forced that on the Post Office with one goal in mind, and that was to cause it to collapse.

I'm old enough to remember the predecessors of these manipulating slime who made it legal for corporations to defund their pension plans, during the Reagan era, and the ensuing chaos in pensions that created. I honestly believe that hanging is too good for them.

Nana's Vibrator:ongbok: Rodeodoc: reaperducer: And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

I think your point is highly debatable, but I'm not motivated to get into that. What no one needs is 6 day a week mail service. The Post Office could probably turn a profit if they went to a 3 day a week schedule. The vast majority of complaints about cutting out Saturday service come from the 85 year olds in East Nutsack, North Dakota who see their Saturday trip to the PO as a social outing. Screw 'em. Tell them their government check will be deposited electronically and don't give them a choice.

See that is your problem right there. The Post Office's job isn't to turn a profit. It is to make sure that we have a reliable method of communicating across the country. The goal of government services shouldn't be to turn a profit.

Talk about downsizing and doing your best to break even then: Eliminate all mail advertisements. You'd downsize by about 50-75%.

But the revenue would go down about the same as well. Everyone thinks Priority Mail/Express Mail is our most profitable service, but in fact Bulk Mail (ie junk mail) makes up at least 50% of our revenue.

And, like a wild ticker tape, this slew of complaints just keeps coming in to my emails. Due to the many residents with stories about their problems in the area at our post offices and/or with their deliveries, I will run another piece tomorrow.

Six words in, I knew that would be a terrible sentence. But the second sentence is even more astonishing. The whole thing should be up for some bad writing award.

ongbok:BolloxReader: DHL was as good as USPS for handling small packages but they don't do point to point in the US anymore. And nobody but USPS will deliver anywhere. USPS has some service limitations due to ongoing losses (thefts from doorsteps or unsafe conditions) but have always left documented messages for people to get their packages at their local post office.

The founder of DHL had a little problem with taking care of small packages point to point that caused the company some bad press.

People_are_Idiots:Nana's Vibrator: ongbok: Rodeodoc: reaperducer: And anyone who says they don't need the Postal Service anymore is someone who either lives in their mother's basement or lives a very simple, boring, predictable life.

I think your point is highly debatable, but I'm not motivated to get into that. What no one needs is 6 day a week mail service. The Post Office could probably turn a profit if they went to a 3 day a week schedule. The vast majority of complaints about cutting out Saturday service come from the 85 year olds in East Nutsack, North Dakota who see their Saturday trip to the PO as a social outing. Screw 'em. Tell them their government check will be deposited electronically and don't give them a choice.

See that is your problem right there. The Post Office's job isn't to turn a profit. It is to make sure that we have a reliable method of communicating across the country. The goal of government services shouldn't be to turn a profit.

Talk about downsizing and doing your best to break even then: Eliminate all mail advertisements. You'd downsize by about 50-75%.

But the revenue would go down about the same as well. Everyone thinks Priority Mail/Express Mail is our most profitable service, but in fact Bulk Mail (ie junk mail) makes up at least 50% of our revenue.

I think it's pretty well known that junk mail generates the most money - but revenue does not equal profit, nor does it indicate a sustainable model. That revenue might only be supporting a larger mess. The entire thing needs to be taken back and stripped down.

I've got a mailmain that is afraid to put mail throught the door slot (no boxes in my neighborhood) because my husky sniffs and my husky/chow barks. I guess he's afraid the 35 lb dogs will come through the 1 1/2 inch slot and get him somehow. Like Santa's Little Helper turning into some form of terminator liquid and pouring through the slot on the Simpsons.

One day I caught him trying to walk away without delivering the mail. I heard someone walking up, the dogs ran to the door, and then nothing. I open the door to see the carrier walking away with an envelope in his hand. I say 'Uh....is that supposed to be for me?" The guy stops, looks at me, and says "yes?" "Well...may I have it?" So he hands it to me and walks off as nothing was wrong.

MythDragon:I've got a mailmain that is afraid to put mail throught the door slot (no boxes in my neighborhood) because my husky sniffs and my husky/chow barks. I guess he's afraid the 35 lb dogs will come through the 1 1/2 inch slot and get him somehow. Like Santa's Little Helper turning into some form of terminator liquid and pouring through the slot on the Simpsons.

One day I caught him trying to walk away without delivering the mail. I heard someone walking up, the dogs ran to the door, and then nothing. I open the door to see the carrier walking away with an envelope in his hand. I say 'Uh....is that supposed to be for me?" The guy stops, looks at me, and says "yes?" "Well...may I have it?" So he hands it to me and walks off as nothing was wrong.

I busted our mailman teasing my dog with the mail through the slot, waving it back and forth. I was wondering why all of a sudden, all our mail was getting torn up by our dog. I reported him, and the next day, we had a new carrier. It really irritated me because we hadn't raised our rottweiler to be aggressive at all, and that farker put it in his head that he had that capability.